Jongleur

Jongleur, professional storyteller or public entertainer in medieval France, often indistinguishable from the trouvère. The role of the jongleur included that of musician, juggler, and acrobat, as well as reciter of such literary works as the fabliaux, chansons de geste, lays, and other metrical romances that were sometimes of his own composition. Jongleurs performed in marketplaces on public holidays, in abbeys, and in castles of nobles, who sometimes retained them in permanent employment. In such a case the jongleur became known as a ménestrel and devoted more of his time to literary creation than to entertainment. Fraternities of jongleurs became known as puys, groups that held competitions for lyric poets. The jongleur reached the height of his importance in the 13th century but lapsed into decline in the 14th, when various facets of his complex role disseminated among other performers—e.g., musicians, actors, and acrobats.

Jongleurs and troubadors performing before the German emperor, manuscript illumination from the Manessa Codex, c. 1300. Gianni Dagli Orti/Corbis